PowerBilt's new TPS Irons; Baldwin on Lake Placid golf; and the value of passing on old clubs

Once a powerhouse in golf equipment, some say PowerBilt lost some traction over the years. But its new TPS Irons series might be just what it needs to get back on top. Podcast host Dave Berner talks to Equipment Editor Kiel Christianson about why these clubs are the “middle handicapper’s dream.”

“The thing that struck me when I played these for a little bit of time was that they were the first game-improvement irons that I’ve really found that even I as a mid-handicapper can consistently work,” Christianson says. “They’re very workable.”

“It has a good half dozen courses that are over 80 years old, some over 100 years,” Baldwin says. “It just has a lot of unexpected golf history.”

And: The sight of an old set of golf clubs left in the curbside garbage reminds Berner of the value of introducing others to the game. While teaching at an inner-city school in Chicago, Dave gave a few of his old clubs away to a student on the condition that the boy would try the game at least once.

“I don’t know if he took the game any further, don’t know if he was hooked on it like so many of us others are,” he remembers. “But I do know that giving those clubs away was far better than putting them on the curb for the trash man.”

TravelGolf.com This Week showcases the latest in golf, from the PGA and LPGA Tours to golf equipment and travel destinations. Host Dave Berner speaks each week with the writers and bloggers from TravelGolf.com, the Web's most complete source for golf and travel information.

Ravenwood Golf Club -- located just south of Rochester, in the heart in the Finger Lakes region of western New York -- was selected by Golf Digest as the fifth Best New Public Course in America (2003). The course has partnered with the Holiday Inn Express & Suites and the Best Western Victor Inn & Suites to offer premium stay-and-play golf packages.